


The Director and the Lead

by Rachel_Lu



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, High School
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-04
Updated: 2017-10-04
Packaged: 2019-01-08 21:33:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12262500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachel_Lu/pseuds/Rachel_Lu
Summary: John Smith struggles to talk to Rose Tyler, who is the absolutely beautiful lead in a play that he is student directing.  She distracts him in ways she couldn't even imagine, how could she really not notice?





	The Director and the Lead

**Author's Note:**

> The school in this fic is based on the high school I went to, and I was in the fall plays, so this took me on a happy trip down memory lane. Hope you all enjoy this!

He wasn’t sure when he’d been put in charge of the fall play.  He probably volunteered when he wasn’t really paying any attention, and that was fine, because he was also in charge of _Rose Tyler._

In his grade, beautiful, way out of his league Rose Tyler.

She was the lead, because she was brilliant, and it was really very difficult.  He had to direct her, as he was the student director, and he often fumbled papers around her or dropped things or honestly, just made a bloody fool of himself.  She never made fun of him or snickered like the others onstage did, just watched him carefully.  

She would nod when he gave her directions, and give him a bright smile that made him drop his folders.  It was really unfair. She was beautiful, and she definitely knew it, she had to know it, how could someone that _beautiful_ not know they were?

“Are you alright?” The head director of the play asked, furrowing his brow at John.  John nodded, smiling.

“Brilliant. Just nervous for them, you know, opening week is… Next week.”

“Yep,” the director nodded.  “Just… Keep your wits about you, John.”

Heading out of rehearsal that day, he ran into Rose, and it was lucky that he wasn't holding any folders that he could easily drop at a moment’s notice.

“Hi, John,” She smiled and tucked her hair behind her ears. “Um, I had some questions about rehearsal, if I could walk with you to your car?”

“S-sure!” He nodded vigorously, arranging his bag over his shoulder.  “Let’s-” he gestured in front of him and she started walking towards the door with him.

He swallowed hard, barely daring to believe that Rose Tyler was walking next to him and not making noises of disgust because she was so unbelievably _out of his league._

“You had questions?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Rose nodded, hooking her thumbs in the straps of her backpack. “I’m just a little nervous, and I was wondering if you think I’m alright at this part? And I’m serious, like… I’m afraid I’m not doing it right.”

He blinked. How could she not know that she was brilliant?  “Rose… You’re so talented.”

She smiled. “But am I good at the _part?_ A very talented actor can give a very bad performance, John.”

He tugged his ear, nodding. “That’s true,” he said slowly, “But you definitely… You’re definitely good at this.  And I’m not just saying that, I would tell you if I was just saying that,” he smield a little.  “You’re good, Rose, really good.”

“I just…” She sighed. “You seem so distracted in rehearsal, I just wonder why sometimes. Like maybe I’m not good enough to hold your attention.”

John felt his jaw drop and he stopped walking to stare at her, his mouth open. Rose noticed that he stopped and turned to face him, her cheeks red. She seemed to be waiting for him to say something.

“I- I- I-” he shook his head. “Rose, I promise, you have my full attention at every rehearsal. I always thought I gave you good notes, in rehearsals.”

“You do!” She said, trying to reassure him, “You do. You do.  I really appreciate it too, I kind of wonder why you don’t act.”

He shrugged and started walking again, catching up to her and holding the front door to the school open for her. She thanked him and ducked under his arm to get through.  He jerked his head to start walking towards his car.

“So you- You don’t hate me?”

At this point, John was close to losing his mind. How could a girl so beautiful, so talented, and so kind think that he hated her? How was that even possible.  If he was a wise man, he would have fallen at her feet and told her exactly how he felt about her, how he wished he could take her to prom or do _something_ to have an excuse to hold her, about the waist or just holding her hand.  God, he wanted to hold her hand.

Instead of any of that, though, he tripped over his feet and stumbled for a moment.

“I don’t hate you!” He said, turning to her.

She was crimson now, blushing so deeply that she couldn’t even look at him. She gnawed on her bottom lip, her eyes darting around, looking anywhere but at him.  “Well, I just thought that maybe you did, because you don’t say hello to me in school, outside of practice. I mean, we’re in the same English class and you don’t even look at me.”

John didn’t look at her in class because she was terribly, terribly distracting and he wanted to focus on his studies so he could get into a good Uni.  He ran his hand through his hair and shook his head, taking a step closer to her.

“Rose, I don’t hate you,” he said, “I really don’t, I don’t think I ever could.”

“Then why aren’t we friends?”

He swallowed. “Do you need a ride home?”

She shook her head. “I’ll walk,” she said glumly, turning away.

He reached out and grabbed her arm. “Wait,” He said anxiously, “Let me drive you home.”  
She looked down at his hand on her.  “You’ll just ignore me when we come back to school tomorrow.”

“I won’t, “ he rushed to say. “I promise, I won’t.”

She looked up into his eyes, searching for a moment, before nodding. “Okay.”

So, after that he was pretty sure he was never going to drive anyone anywhere again because she sat in his front seat and they chatted idly all the way back and she was actually quite easy to talk to. He wasn’t quite sure why he was so nervous.  He _was_ still nervous, with sweaty palms and racing heart.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said before she got out of the car. She nodded and hesitated for a moment, before leaning forward and kissing him on the cheek, saying a quick “Bye!” and darting out of the car.

He sat in the parking lot to her apartment complex for about five minutes, just memorizing the feel of her, before driving home.

And they did talk, over the next few days, until finally it was opening night, and Rose was feeling much more confident about everything, really. She was much easier to talk to than he had anticipated, and they had quite a lot in common.  Unfortunately though, the kiss she had pressed to his cheek had been a one time thing, which was… Fine, really.  She was near him, and that was really all he had wanted anyway.

He had bought her a bouquet of roses, which he hoped she wouldn’t think was a bit too on the nose.  He knocked on the girl’s dressing room door, waiting for an answer.

“Who is it?” One of the supporting characters in the play, Amy Pond, called out.

“It’s John, I just need to talk to Rose before the show.”  
“I’m coming!” Rose called out.  “I’ll meet you in the hall, John.”

John took the three steps to the door to the hallway behind the stage.  He stood there until Rose came out, completely in costume, makeup and hair done.  She beamed at him.  “Hello,” she said, shutting the hall door behind her.

They stood together in the empty art hall of the school, the breeze from the outside coming under the door and hitting his ankles though his suit pants.  

“I bought you flowers,” he said, extending the bouquet to her.  She gasped and reached for them, gathering them into her arms.

“Oh, John, they’re beautiful.”  
“I was a little afraid you would think they were on the nose, too weird, maybe, because they’re roses-”

He stopped when she stepped forward and threw her arms around him.  He took advantage of the moment and held her around the waist, ignoring the thorn from the rose that was poking him in the back.

She pulled back a little and kissed him on the mouth, but only pulled back after a moment.  He stopped her by reaching up to cup her cheek and draw her back to him.  They kissed for just a few moments before she pulled back and pressed her forehead to his.

“Thank you for the flowers,” She said softly.

“Would you like to go on a date with me?” He blurted out.

She pulled back from his forehead and looked him in the eye. “Really?”

He nodded. “We could go out to eat, if you’d like, after the play.  To celebrate?”

She smiled and nodded. “I’d love to,” She said.  

“Great!”  He beamed at her.  “Break a leg.”  
She bit her lip and nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

Because he could, he leaned forwards and kissed her again.  She ran her free hand into his hair, tugging it a little.  He pulled back with a pop, staring at her with mouth agape.

“We can… We can explore that later.”

She giggled and carried her flowers back through the hall door, and John had to restrain himself from punching the air.  He went to sit in the audience, and as he thought, Rose Tyler was fantastic.  

And the two of them were fantastic together.


End file.
